> Will Trisquel 9 have this functionality? If not is
> there a way that perhaps we could include "xfDashboard" in the next
> version of Trisquel?

Even though Xfdashboard was written for Xfce, I'm pretty sure that it
can work in any desktop environment. It is not in the Trisquel 8 repo,
but it is in the Trisquel 9 repo. If you like the GNOME 3 interface but
your computer is to old to run GNOME 3 then I could see Xfdashboard
being a good alternative. Otherwise, if you like GNOME 3 then just use
GNOME 3.

It's true that with Debian-based distros it can be hard to fully remove
a desktop environment, so you can end up with some redundant
programs. However, DE-specific programs should generally be hidden when
using a different DE. For example, open the file
/usr/share/applications/caja.desktop and scroll to the bottom. You'll
see a line near the end that says "OnlyShowIn=MATE;". While using
another DE, Caja will be ignored. In GNOME, for example, you'll see
Nautilus instead.

So in terms of clutter it's really not too bad to have multiple DEs
installed, which is nice if you have multiple users on the same machine
who prefer different DEs. Again, though, if you only want GNOME
installed the cleanest approach is to start with a netinstall with only
the base system installed. After installing you'll start with no DE,
just a command line.

Then install a display manager (login screen),

$ sudo apt install lightdm lightdm-gtk-greeter # or slim, gdm, etc.

install your preferred DE

$ sudo apt install gnome # or xfce, cinnamon, etc.

and reboot

$ sudo reboot

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